Pity about the sole

Restaurante del Pescador is one of numerous bars and restaurants on Calle Mar in the harbour area of Moraira.

The inside of del Pescador is quite small and the majority of diners eat al fresco.

There is a menu del día for €13.95 and one of our party opted for this and was most satisfied with his choice. For the others we opted for a menu del noche which was priced at €20. Neither menus included wine in the price.

We were served with a tasty amuse bouche along with warm bread, alioli and fresh tomato paste with the compliments of the house before we received our starters. The starters were excellent and consisted of chiperones, gambas cooked with garlic and large fresh mussels.

For the main course the menu del día luncher had a perfectly cooked paella.

For the rest of us we chose sole, which was disappointingly small and with not a lot of flavour. We tried the house red and white which was El Pinar de Villena from Alicante (both priced at €14) and our host traded up to Musgos Verdejo from Rueda (€18.50).

We concluded this lunch that had started so well, with coffees and brandies offered by the house. Cost p.p. €31.33

MONROES CARVERY, MORAIRA 965744114

Comfort food for ex pats

Monroes Carvery has been in the business of feeding an expatriate clientele for many years, and is currently run by a daughter of the founder. Pictures and photographs of the famous Marilyn abound, although the connection with the film star would appear to be tenuous.

There are three restaurants in this group, two called Munroes Cavery, one in Pedreguer and the other in Moraira and the Nags Head in Benidorm makes up the chain. We visited Munroes Carvery at 7 Calle Mar Negro which is just off the main road leading into the centre of Moraira. Ample shaded parking was available.

Munroes clearly catered for many patrons at a time, given the volume of tables and place settings, many of them outdoors. It would appear that it was geared more to the self- service cavery model rather waiter service. At summertime Monroes would probably come into its own with visiting expatriates from the U.K. seeking a refuge from Spanish cuisine.

The menu is slightly overwhelming because of its sheer size. There are two menus del día priced at €9.95 and €12.50, the latter includes a half bottle of wine.

For starters many of our group selected prawn cocktail and found it to be innocuous. Smoked mackerel accompanied by brown bread and the Caesar salad were both pronounced good.

The main course selection was a lot more varied. Two of our group opted for steak strips, one was tender the other less so.

The traditional cod and chips were acceptable but the bacon burger was dry and required added sauce. A homemade steak and kidney pudding looked suspiciously like it had come from a tin, but tasted fine.

Our host selected an agreeable Verdejo Viura from Rioja called Azabache (€7.95) and a red from Cariñina called Monasterio de las Vinas (€9.95). This was found to be wanting so we switched to a Rioja red called 1000 Mojas (€7.95) and it was a definite improvement.

Desserts included a delicious meringue dish and our lunch concluded with the usual coffees and brandies and our bill worked out at just €18.74 p.p.

RESTAURANTE BISTRO, MORAIRA. 96 574 4568

A bistro by any other name

Naming your eaterie ‘Restaurant Bistro’ may seem a bit unimaginative, and it must be difficult to stand out from the crowd when you are cheek-by-jowl with a number of other restaurants crammed around the Plaza de la Sort – the square right by the seafront in the centre of Moraira, next to the Club Nautico car park. It almost seems to be part of its neighbour, D’gust, but it turned out to be a good three-star place to eat. Centrally located, it offers a good choice of dishes for the Menu del Dia, priced at a reasonable 15 euros.

Coated mushrooms…

Mussels…

For starters we were offered mussels, calamares, mushrooms in breadcrumbs, melon with ham and mixed salad. We tried the first three and found them good. This was followed up by a popular solomillo de cerdo, with a tasty pimento sauce; lenguado de la plancha (described as being ‘good but would have been better with some tartare sauce’); chicken pieces on a skewer; merluza (hake) and a spag. bol. which proved to be too big for one of our number.

Lenguado a la plancha….

Solomillo de Cerdo …

The postres turned out to be the usual Spanish offering of flan, flan or flan – actually there were profiteroles as well. Nothing to write home about, but presented well by an energetic and helpful member of staff. Coffees and brandies were offered by our generous host – an offer matched by the proprietor.

The ubiquitous crème caramel

Profiteroles…

The menu del dia would have included wine but this was declined in favour of the ever-drinkable Mantel, using verdejo grapes from Rueda and priced at 17 euros a bottle. The red wine lovers opted for a bottle of Ramon Bilbao at a couple of euros more.

All in all a pleasant lunch in the November sunshine, by the seaside. Who could ask for anything more?

THE KATHMANDU, MORAIRA 966492436

Nice Nepalese nosh

There are four restaurants in the Kathmandu chain and this one is located at km 1.5 on the Moraira to Calpe road, close by the long established Restaurante Gemisant. The Kathmandu is staffed by friendly and helpful Nepalese.

We decided to lunch on the suave terrace rather than in the somewhat sombre interior of the restaurant.

The menu del día is extensive and priced at €13.95 for three courses.

We had a selection of delicious starters including Onion Bhaji, Tandoori chicken and Sheek kebab and so generous were the portions that some of us struggled to finish our main course and had to ask for takeaway bags.

For main course we selected Madras dishes of lamb, chicken, beef or prawn accompanied with really fine naan bread and some pulau rice.

The house wines were Valencian called Acantus, both acceptable.

Together with coffees or desserts and a complimentary brandy our Nepalese experience cost just €22.96 p.p.

AOI TEPPANYAKI, MORAIRA 965743094

Authentic Japanese cuisine

Aoi Teppanyaki Japanese restaurant is located in the Andrago commercial centre at km 1.9 on the Moraira Calpe coast road, along with numerous other restaurants including the recently relocated Les Bretonnes.

Whilst we lunched on the patio because of the sunny weather, the interior of Aoi is very chic with a row of teppanyaki grills to sit around.

Our members chose primarily from a selection of Sushi dishes (€15.95) and the menu del día (€10.45).

The menu del día started with some soya bean pods, miso soup and a salad, thereafter spring rolls before the main course of delicious tempura prawns and vegetable tempura.

The selection of Sushi dishes was outstanding and greatly enjoyed by our group.

The house wines both red and white, were Nuriana from Aragon (€11.50).

This genuine Japanese experience cost €25.69 p.p. and the general concensus was that Aoi Teppanyaki will require further visits….

My, my, my, Moraira!

You might be forgiven for thinking that a modest little restaurant at the end of a row of eateries, alongside the car-park serving the Club Nautica, had much to be modest about: unassuming, unpretentious, and, oddly, un-occupied. The fifteen in our party more than made up for that, and the restaurant proved to be excellent value based around a Menu del Dia costing just 12 euros. Not bad for a sea-front restaurant in the heart of a popular town….

The Menu del Dia gave a choice of chopitos, salad, sardines or gazpacho – with the sardines being by far the most popular. And for good reason – they were excellent, with good flavour and texture. The second course saw more varied choices with several opting for the Paella Valenciana. Others went for the lenguado (sole) and five of us chose the rather tasty breast of chicken in a creamy sauce. The postres offered the usual suspects – profiteroles, ice creams, flan and so on. Nothing too imaginative, but still very pleasant.

The price included pan y ali oli, and coffee was an option in lieu of the dessert. The house wines were unspectacular – one called ‘Salinas’ from Utiel Requeno (white) and a red temperanillo called ‘Monterio’. The success of the meal was enhanced by a fine bottle of brandy, the gift of our rash Kiwi member, and it added to a most pleasant Friday afternoon beside the seaside in the company of more Yorkshiremen than is normally advisable.

The total bill, to include a rather impressive number of bottles of wine, came to a very reasonable euros 28.60 – and, rather helpfully, the restaurant handed out passes enabling us all to leave the car-park for free. That certainly appealed to the Yorkshire contingent….

JAVI´S , MORAIRA 965743254

Heavy on the rice!

Javi´s was formerly known as Le Soleil and is one of a number of restaurants bordering on Plaza La Sort, just back from the seafront in Moraira.

The restaurant is in triangular form with a tiny terrace down one side. The décor is chic and could possibly be softened by the addition of some fabric in the windows.

The menu del día is priced at €12 for three courses and a glass of wine. For starters we selected mussels, prawn cocktail, squid.

For main course we chose duck confit, merluza, Valencian paella and arroz negra. Overall the dishes were good but it was felt that a bit more meat and less rice would have been a better balance.

Our host selected a Chardonnay from Ucles called Escencia de Fontana and Vina Borgia to accompany the meal. Desserts were cheesecake with nuts and chocolate mousse. Together with coffees and brandies our lunch at Javi´s cost €23.40 p.p.

TASCA MORAIRA, MORAIRA 966491911

Delicious starters, pity about the rest…

Tasca Moraira is an atmospheric restaurant situated on Calle Playas in the old part of Moraira town overlooking the port. There are numerous restaurants in the area and the competition must be fierce between them. The menu especial at Tasca Moraira costs €20 for a starter, a main course, dessert or coffee, but no drinks.

The starters were outstanding, in particular the prawns in garlic but also the calamares a la romana and the Tasca salad. These were followed up by a refreshing sorbet. Our host selected the house red, a perfectly acceptable Ribero del Duero called Darsena (€12.80) and traded up a bit for the white with a Verdejo from Rueda (€15.50).

The main courses, in contrast to the starters, were a disappointment. The entrecote was tough, the sole dry and the shoulder of lamb so-so. Most of us skipped the dessert and settled for coffee and brandy. Our lunch which started so well at Tasca Moraira cost €31.21 p.p.

ZENSATEZ, MORAIRA 965744255

Gastrobar, at a price

Situated right next to the Moraira – Calpe road at number 62, Zensatez is an elegant restaurant overlooking the sea. The proximity of the road unfortunately brings with it quite a lot of traffic noise.
Zensatez has a menu de mercado consisting of snacks with bread and alioli, three tapas, a meat or fish main course followed by dessert, for €25.
The presentation of all dishes is exquisite. One of the snacks was a sardine diving into a small potato.

The tapas dishes were artichokes, followed by prawns with a delicious strawberry vinaigrette and thereafter crispy battered hake with sauce.

For main course the choice was either lamb or freshly caught monkfish.
Dessert was thinly sliced pineapple with ice cream. We had a Rueda Verdejo called Musgo and a Ribero del Duero called Tramuz, both priced at €15, to accompany our artistic lunch that seemed to improve with each course.

Our visit to the Zensatez Gastrobar including coffees and brandies amounted to a hefty €43.20 p.p.
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